SEPSIS: Can YOU recognise the symptoms of potentially fatal blood poisoning?

SEPSIS is a life-threatening condition which can be triggered by an infection or an injury - sending the body’s immune system into overdrive as it tries to fight it. This can causing organs to shut down.

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Melissa Mead, from Cornwall lost her son William to sepsis. He contracted blood poisoning in 2014 and died after a series of NHS failures to detect it.

Dean Smahon, from West Yorkshire was left with a ten per cent chance of survival after he fell ill in October 2010 and staff missed vital opportunities to treat him in time.

The 54-year-old, who is now set to become a farmer for the first time, is telling his story as part of Sepsis Awareness Month.

Dean was placed in an induced coma after experiencing flu-like symptoms, his fever and shakes got worse and his body fell into septic shock.

Mr Smahon, who had only been in a relationship with his wife Kirsty for seven weeks before falling ill, said: "I was active, I liked to keep fit, I had pride in how I looked, I'd met a girl I really liked and all of a sudden I had to cope with losing my legs, hand and bits of my face.

PA

Dean Smahon said the condition made him lose his 'dignity' and 'self worth'

SWNS

Dean Smahon with his wife

"I'd lost my dignity and self-worth.

“Kirsty left her teaching job to care for me. It was a very dark period and felt as though life wasn't worth living."

He added: "I hope that my story will help prevent others suffering the way I have."

Early symptoms of sepsis include fast breathing or a fast heartbeat, high or low temperature, chills and shivering, and people may or may not have a fever.

However other symptoms can include diarrhoea, less urine production, cold skin, severe muscle pain and loss of consciousness.

Without prompt treatment with antibiotics, sepsis can lead to multiple organ failure and death and leaves thousands of survivors with life-changing disabilities.

Sepsis is often diagnosed based on temperature, heart rate and breathing rate.

But other tests which can determine the type of infection can include stool or urine samples, testing small samples of tissue, skin or fluid, respiratory secretion testing such as taking saliva or mucus, blood pressure tests or x-rays.

According to the UK Sepsis Trust, there are around 150,000 cases of sepsis in the UK each year and 44,000 deaths - more deaths than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined.